<p>Question for you: How many skeins of yarn should I buy for someone who offered to make me a 5 x 7 blanket? I know it depends on the size of the skein… ounces? The yarn I have in mind is a smallish oblong, each one about 7 inches long…</p>
<p>I’d buy 2 or 3 to start with. You can always buy more later…Michael’s, for example, always keeps the good colors in stock.</p>
<p>It depends a bit on how tight your friends knitting or crocheting is and how thick the yarn is and what size needles get used. </p>
<p>Just to show you how much it can vary:
</p>
<p>from: [Estimating</a> Yarn Needs - How Much Yarn for a Baby Blanket?](<a href=“http://knitting.about.com/od/patternsforbabies/qt/blanket_est.htm]Estimating”>Get the Right Amount of Yarn for a Baby Blanket)</p>
<p>Ask the people at the yarn store you’re buying it at. It depends on the thickness of the yarn, the size of the needle, etc. Thinner yarns come in longer skeins but take more stitches… And so on. Don’t assume you can buy more later unless you’re doing stripes, because different dye lots don’t always match.</p>
<p>(I am reading and knitting.)</p>
<p>I just knit a friend a 3’x5’ lap blanket; it took ten skeins of that yarn. I have another blanket I made myself from one big skein. And another one that took four. Skeins are not a standard unit.</p>
<p>Stitches also vary in how much yarn they take. Pattern is even more important in yarn usage in crocheting.</p>
<p>A 5 X 7 blanket would be huge for a knitted item, and if they used worsted weight yarn, size 6-7 needles, it would easily require 20 skeins of yarn. It could take weeks if not months to do. If a bulkier weight yarn is used, it would not take so long. Your knitting friend needs to tell you what weight and type (acrylic, wool?) they like to use, then ask at the yarn store what would be needed. Many yarns have to be bought in one dye lot, or an item will look strange when completed. This is a big task. You are lucky to have a friend who would offer to make something like that for you…treasure it carefully.</p>
<p>I made a similar sized blanket for a friend of mine for her wedding gift. Using a chenielle yarn on size 11 needles it took me 15 balls. This was quite a project and took several months to complete, so lorelei is right when she says be sure to treasure it. It may end up becoming my traditional wedding gift as it definitely made the bride very happy. It is huge and will easily cover two people. If your friend is knitting by hand I would keep in mind that it might take many months between offer and completion, depending upon how much time she can devote to knitting. If she’s a machine knitter it will probably be exponentially faster, but you will need to be more careful with yarn selection. Make sure to ask if she’s a machine knitter before purchasing anything you can’t return.</p>